Corset



wom n.

L. s. BORTREE.

Corset.

Patented Dec."28, I880.

M w a N.PETERS, rnoro-Lrrnoamvnam WASHINGTON. o. c,

. U rTEn STATES PATENT FFICE.

' LEWIS S. BORTREE, OF'TOLEDO, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO BORTREE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF JACKSON, MICHIGAN.

. CORS-ET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 235,989, dated December 28, 1880.

' Application filed July 12, 1880. (Model) To'all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEwIs S. BORTREE, of Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, have invented an Improvement in Corsets, of Which the following is a specification.

The nature of my invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in the construction of corsets, whereby a greater flexibility is obtained and the supporting properties retained, while the liability of breaking the bones is-almost entirely obviated.

It has been customary to secure therequisite stiffness below the arm and above the hip by means of vertical bones extending from the upper to the lower edge at these points, or by means of inclined bones extending from the upper edge of the corset under the arm to the lower edge at front and rear of the hip, the bones diverging for that purpose. Owing to the great flexibility of the body at a point about midway between the armpit and the hip, these bones, arranged as above, are very liable to break at that point.

The object of my invention is to so construct the corset that the requisite flexibility is secured at this point, as above described, and at the same time secure the necessary stiffness at the proper supporting points.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of my improved 1c rset. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, (t represents the front steel; n, the front section; a, the gores which, with the bones 01, form the bust c, all of the usual construction. The side section, f, is provided with no vertical, lateral, or inclined or diverging bones, which are usually employed, and which give so much rigidity to this section as to render the corset liable to the objections hereinbefore mentioned. Instead, 9 represents a series of bones of a curved or elliptical form, extending from the lower edge of the corset in front of the center or hip section, h, to the lower edge of the corset in rear of said section. This arrangement allows this part of the corset to bend in any direction, and allows the wearer to assume any position without discomfort and any detrimental strain upon the corset, and leaves a space, 0, near the bottom of the corset, rendering it more flexible at that space, while by the employment of semi-elliptical bones in contradistinction to those made in the form of arcs of circles the bones will be extended higher up in the corset with the same number of bones than when bones in the form of arcs of circles are employed. The apices or highest points of the curves of the bones being the points where they are the most likely to break and wear through the material of the corset, a staypiece, p, is secured to the corset over the seam of the hip-section and apices of the bones,

to strengthen the construction and prevent the bones from wearing through the material of the corset.

In what may be properly termed the armpit-section 2', immediately above the hip-section h, represents a series of bones in the form of circles, which give sufficient support 70 to the section without interfering with its proper flexibility in any desired direction.

I am aware that the bones of a corset have been arranged so as to run parallel, or nearly so, to the lower edge of the corset on the hipsection, and I therefore lay no claim to such construction, as after such corsets have been worn a short time the bones are liable to fold one upon the other; and I am also aware that the bones of the hip-section of a corset have been arranged in the arcs of circles parallel to each other and extending to the bottom of the corset, and I therefore lay no claim to such construction, which is liable to the same objection as the corset having the bones on its hip-section running parallel to the lower edge of the corset, though not to the same extent.

In my invention the bones of the hip-section are arranged in ellipses or elongated o curves parallel with each other, each of which is perpendicular, or nearly so, at its end to the lower edge of the corset, and the apex or highest point of each curve is arranged in, or nearly in, the seam of the hip-section and 5 some distance above the lower edge of the corset. By this construction it is impossible 2. In a corset, the combination of the series for the bones to fold one upon the other, as in of curved bones g and series of circular-shaped 10 the invention (liselaimed. bones 7a with the front and rear sections, sub- What I claim as my invention is-- stantially as shown. 1. In a corset, the series of circular bones k LEWIS S. BORTREE. in the side section immediately below the arm- Witnesses: pit-section and above the hip-section h, sub- FREDK. L. GEDDES,

stantially as set forth. A. W. GLEASON. 

